Regulation and safety of over-the-counter diet pills

Dietary Pills and Dietary Supplements

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Diet Pills are any medication that help a person either lose weight or control their appetite so they don't consume as many calories. There are both prescription and over-the-counter weight loss products that may be used. Most over-the-counter medications do not work very well, unless accompanied by a healthy diet and exercise, both of which are usually the cause of the weight loss. Some prescription medications do assist in weight loss by preventing fat absorption (Tank).

Dietary Supplement Pills or Nutritional Supplements are generally defined as supplemental vitamins and minerals taken due to the lack of proper nutrition through consumption of a balanced diet. These vitamins and minerals can come in the form of pill, liquid or powder and can also be herbal in nature. They can be taken to cure a known deficiency of a certain vitamin or mineral within the body, or generally taken on a daily basis to maintain and improve health .

It would seem that the timing of the rise in popularity of dietary supplements accompanied the growth of the fast-food industry in the United States. As the nutrition of the Big Mac was questioned, so the population turned to supplements in an attempt to maintain some semblance of a healthy, balanced diet.

Effects of Over-the-Counter Diet Pills

Diet pills that are purchased over-the-counter or by mail or internet are not tested by any objective third party like the U.S. government. There are none of these supplements that meet any criteria which allows U.S. physicians to recommend them. Hopefully, they are tested in a lab somewhere, but that somewhere could be India, Taiwan, or Africa and no one knows what their safety and efficacy standards are.

There are prescription diet pills also. Doctors, in specific cases will recommend a prescription diet pill for a person who has a body mass index of above 30 with no obesity-related conditions, or someone who has a BMI above 27 with obesity-related conditions. These medications would be approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) (Tank).

The positive and negative effects of over-the-counter diet pills are difficult to determine because it normally takes long-term studies to substantiate side-effects, and there is very little data in this form for these pills. However, the following risks are known:

Those who have serious health problems like kidney or thyroid problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma, diabetes, or depression should not take over-the-counter appetite suppressants.

If a person takes these pills, it should be associated with a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise. Usually, taking the diet pills for 8-12 weeks is the maximum time of exposure that is acceptable. It is potentially dangerous to your health to take them long-term.

The fact is that no one knows for sure whether any particular over-the-counter diet pill is safe or not because only the manufacturer knows how they have been tested. When they claim that their pills are "natural," it is their own definition. No one has checked the ingredients and the FDA has had no part in this pill. They may be dangerous to your health.

There can be dozens of ingredients in these pills. Again, no one has tested the interactions between these ingredients. Another unknown is how this particular pill will react with any other medications you might be taking.

It is known that some OTC diet pills use animal thyroid extracts as part of their ingredients.

The use of these extracts is supposed to increase the human body's metabolism. However, there are also side effects such as dehydration, excessive sweating, diarrhea, rapid heartbeat, and more.

All? (Xenical) is the latest, greatest innovation on the diet pill market, and it is the first over-the-counter medication for this purpose approved by the FDA. It works to reduce fat absorption by the body. However, it has proven to have some very "yucky" side effects -- so awful that GlaxoSmithKline, its manufacturer, has been very up front about warning users. It seems that unless the consumer is very careful about maintaining a very low fat diet, which GSK says is less than 42 grams of fat a day, the bowels release their contents at very inconvenient times and, evidently, without much warning. The lowfat diet is crucial. And the manufacturer also advises that it is not a miracle pill. If you lose six pounds by diet and exercise, you might lose nine pounds with All? As a supplement.

Now banned by the FDA, Ephedra, also known as ma huang, is an herbal product and for many years was used in the U.S. For weight loss. And it is one of the few that actually seemed to work. However, it also had disastrous side effects such as heart attacks, strokes, and death at high dose levels. Even at normal levels its side effects included tremor, headaches, and vomiting among others. Originally the herb was used by the Chinese to treat asthma. It is, even today, several years after its ban, noted by physicians as a diet supplement that worked for weight loss by increasing a person's energy and activity levels. The supplement bitter orange is known as an ephedra substitute. However, it has the same dangerous side effects as ephedra.

Other supplements with catchy names pop up all the time. CortaSlim, TrimSpa X32, Xenadrine EFX, and others, claim to suppress appetite or block absorption of fat. Most of them contain one or all of the following ingredients.

Chromium and Ginseng have been marketed as aids to weight loss in that they modulate carbohydrates. No tests have proven they have any affect at all. Ginseng may have some positive effect on glucose tolerance, but even that is an unknown. No long-term tests have been done that prove positive or negative results from consuming these herbals in normal quantities.

Chitosan and guar gum, quite well-known as weight-loss supplements, by all evidence, don't work for weight loss, but do cause side effects of bloating, constipation, and other gastrointestinal problems. They are considered safe to use.

There are a number of other diet supplements touted to help lose weight, suppress appetite, or increase the rate of burning calories: hoodla, green tea extract, country mallow, and conjugated linoleic acid, among others. However, according to the experts, they all have various side effects that are unpleasant, and do not work as weight loss supplements.

The reason many people swear by these supplements is that they tend to eat better and exercise more while taking the supplement. The weight loss is caused by the diet and exercise rather than the pill. However, we humans can convince ourselves of just about anything.

Effects of Dietary Supplements

The FDA regulates dietary supplements only in that it is required to ensure their safety. A manufacturer is not required to register a supplement or have it approved prior to going to market with it. They must only make certain the product is safe. It is the FDA's post-sales responsibility to keep them safe. Manufacturers must ensure that the label on the product is accurate and not misleading in any way.

There are definite benefits in taking dietary supplements per directions. They can assist anyone in obtaining nutrients not consumed through a balanced diet. And some can reduce the risk of certain diseases even though, by FDA regulation, they cannot claim to have any effect on disease at all. Those who have taken certain supplements, like Vitamin C, over many years will testify to their effectiveness in reducing the severity of the common cold as one example.

The risk with dietary supplements is that they all have active ingredients, and certain combinations of the supplements, or a combination of supplements along with prescription medication could cause unsafe results. It is also claimed that taking too much certain supplements can cause serious health problems. Vitamin A and D, and Iron are often referred to as culprits in this regard.

If a huge overdose of Vitamin A is consumed, liver and bone damage, or birth defects could result. Excessive iron in the system could possibly be poisonous to the body. Higher levels of selenium can damage tissue. And high levels of niacin could result in liver damage. However, if vitamins and minerals, in particular, are taken per directions, the chances of damage to health are minimal. If that were not so, the FDA could not take on the responsibility of certifying the supplements as safe.

The five most popular types of dietary supplements are: multiple vitamins, food replacements (SlimFast, Ensure), sports nutrition, calcium, and B. vitamins. Vitamin C is a close number six.

Who Takes Them?

Men, women, and teens take dietary supplements. In the majority of cases this may be a multiple vitamin taken in the morning to cover all the bases. Most teens these days are very active, and many parents are becoming more health smart about giving their sons and daughters a balanced diet. Since this is not always possible, the multivitamin, from a very young age, has become the pathway to at least a modicum of nutrition.

Surveys have shown that, by the age of 20, almost one-sixth of all girls have taken diet pills. For teenage males, the rates are about 50% of the girls' statistics. Many girls show tendencies toward severe weight loss activities such as skipping meals, vomiting, and taking laxatives. The emphasis on the "value" of being skinny and advertisements of women with miniscule waistlines, contribute to the problem.

It would seem, according to studies that almost as many men as women turn to the use of diet pills to help lose weight. Men tend to lose weight more easily than women so their use of the pills may be more short-term, but the minor assist the pills give is hard to resist.

All in all, the results obtained from diet pills, whether prescription or non-prescription do not match manufacturers' claims, and simple diet and exercise can be just as effective without the risk. Dietary supplements, on the other hand, can assist in maintaining balanced nutrition.

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Foodanddiet.com. "pills." n/d. Foodanddiet.com. 19 July 2009 .

Saper, R.B., D.M. Eisenberg and R.S. Phillips. "Common Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss." 1 November 2004. American Academy of Family Physicians. 19 July 2009 .

Tank, C. "Should I use over-the-counter diet aids?" 14 May 2008. WebMD.com. 19 July 2009 .

Zeratsky, K. "Nutrition and Healthy Eating." 14 February 2008. Mayo Clinic. 19 July 2009 .